'Airbnb for playdates': Motherhood app draws on Tim Fung's expertise

Childhood friends Alice Pritchard-Davies and Millie Zinner are building a business with their future selves in mind.

"We were living together and at the age where our friends were starting to have their first babies and it became clear that they just didn't have enough support. We decided we wanted to fix it before we became mothers ourselves," Pritchard-Davies says.

The duo have raised close to $150,000 from the public in recent weeks and will soon launch their Motherhood app in Melbourne in a quest to bring flexible child-minding services into the mainstream.

The platform, which has been in pilot mode in Sydney so far, lets parents book child minders at short notice.

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It also connects parents with others nearby so they can offer childcare to their neighbours. "It's like Airbnb for playdates", the company explains.

Parents can sign up to the platform and set their own hourly rates before matching with minders. Those booking the childcare pay Motherhood either a per booking fee of $10 per session, or an annual subscription from $99 to use the app.

The site verifies working with children checks and parents can request additional verification information, like proof of first aid qualifications, from the minders directly when deciding who to book.

The co-founders worked as nannies while building the company to get a true sense of what Australian families need from childcare and have attracted high-profile supporters along the way.

Airtasker co-founder Tim Fung has come on board as the startup's strategic advisor as Motherhood looks to complete its equity crowdfunding campaign next week.

The chief executive of the skilled jobs marketplace said he was drawn to the startup's "mission-driven" approach.

"I believe that the addressable market for local services is absolutely massive, actually, way bigger than the entirety of the existing "product ecommerce" segment, and the market is completely undeveloped. There is clearly a huge opportunity to improve the way customers engage with a range of local services like babysitting and childcare," Fung says.

Airtasker co-founder Tim Fung is offering his services as an adviser to Motherhood. Credit:Louise Kennerley

Fung declined to comment on whether he has invested in the company or plans to in future, but says he "has a real interest in making Motherhood a success".